Red Sox Journal: Portsmouths Westmoreland to bat in DR

Monday

DALLAS — More than 18 months since he underwent surgery to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain stem, Ryan Westmoreland is set to have an at-bat in a game situation later this week.

DALLAS - More than 18 months since he underwent surgery toremove a cavernous malformation in his brain stem, RyanWestmoreland is set to have an at-bat in a game situation laterthis week.

"That was something that was really important to him as abenchmark," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said. "He wantedto have had an at-bat and gotten into a game."

Westmoreland arrived in the Dominican Republic and went througha workout with the Red Sox instructional-league team on Sunday. Theplan is for the former Portsmouth star to get one at-bat in onegame, maybe two, before the Dominican instructional league seasonwraps up at the end of this week. The at-bat will come against afellow Red Sox-affiliated pitcher, but the game situation will bereal and he will not - unlike the live batting practice he's beentaking - know what's coming.

He will not run the bases or play the field.

"Like any player that's coming back or getting back into gamesfor the first time, we want to control the workload quite a bit,"Red Sox farm director Ben Crockett said. "From our standpoint andfrom his, we'll take it one step at a time, and we'll be able tofocus on the at-bat portion of it for now. He certainly continuesto work on his other skills (at the Red Sox complex) in FortMyers."

Westmoreland has taken smaller and smaller steps in the monthssince he first returned to the field about a year ago, a naturalleveling off given how monumental his first few steps had been.He's spent most of the winter in Fort Myers, working both on hisrehab and the typical baseball-centric strength and conditioninghe'd be doing whether he'd undergone surgery or not - hitting,running, taking fly balls.

That Westmoreland will get an at-bat or two in a game situationdoes not necessarily mean anything for spring training, Crockettcautioned. Westmoreland and the Red Sox have been extraordinarilycareful to temper expectations throughout his recovery, making apoint not to set goals he might not be able to reach. No timetablehas been set for any type of next step forward.

But, still, getting an at-bat in a live game represents anothersignificant hurdle cleared.

"He still has got quite a ways to go in terms of coming all theway back," Crockett said. "But it's a tremendous milestone for him,and I think it'll be a really positive experience."

Said Cherington, "It's incredibly inspiring. He's persevered.I'm sure there were some days when it was hard to persevere. He'sbattled through it. It's a remarkable story. We still don't knowthe end of the story."

Don't expect big splash

Reports continue to circulate that the Red Sox could haveinterest in some of the top-tier starting pitchers on thefree-agent market. Mark Buehrle and C.J. Wilson both have generatedstrong interest from teams in need of pitching, and the Red Soxhave always been in the mix for players of that caliber.

Cherington didn't completely rule out a big-ticket signing likeBuehrle, Wilson or Edwin Jackson when he met with reporters onMonday night. But he came close.

"You never say never, but I think it's more likely we'll bepursuing other options," he said. "We always want to stay involvedto the extent we have the latest information and keep your optionsopen because you never know what may come your way and how that maychange things. I would say it's less likely we'll be involved inthose top-tier guys as relative to the past."

Part of the problem for the Red Sox is that they already sport apayroll within $20 million of the luxury-tax threshold even withoutbringing back David Ortiz. Both Buehrle and Wilson figure to signcontracts worth around $15 million annually.

Lasorda's vote of confidence

One of the first people Bobby Valentine called after taking thejob as Red Sox manager was Tommy Lasorda.

It made sense. Lasorda, after all, was one of the namesValentine mentioned when asked about his baseball influences afterhis first interview with Boston. The Hall of Fame manager wasValentine's first professional skipper, when the new Red Soxmanager was an 18-year-old infielder with the 1968 Ogden Dodgers ofthe rookie-level Pioneer League. Lasorda, in fact, managedValentine's first three full seasons in the minors.

On Monday, Lasorda expressed confidence that Valentine was theright man for the job in Boston.

"I think he's one of the best managers walking the streets ofthis country right now," Lasorda said. "In my opinion, he preparesa team better than anybody I've seen to play that game. That's astrong quality to have.

"I think the fans in Boston are going to like him, I think theplayers are going to play for him, and I think they're going tohave a good year. They've got a lot of talent on that team."

Jenks still key to pen

With Jonathan Papelbon off to Philadelphia and the Red Sox stillpatient on the relief market, the health of Bobby Jenks remains asignificant question to be answered.

Jenks is scheduled for a procedure on his back next week. Backissues helped keep the reliever out for the final three months ofthe season, and a pulmonary embolism postponed any action on Jenks'back until this month.

Still, the Red Sox don't view the problem as being serious,Cherington said.

"By virtue of the fact the doctors are saying he's going to beready for spring training, they're confident it's a relativelyminor thing," Cherington said on Monday. "But he's still got torecover from it, and we certainly believe that he's going to be abig factor in our bullpen in 2012. But he's got to recover fromthis first and take it one step at a time."

A healthy Jenks could go a long way toward overcoming thedeparture of Papelbon. A back end of the bullpen with Daniel Bardclosing and Jenks setting up would be far from a liability.

Bell thought about Sox

Shortly after being introduced as a Miami Marlin, closer HeathBell divulged that he had thought about signing with the RedSox.

"Honestly when [Papelbon] left the Red Sox, I thought there wasan opportunity," Bell said. "I thought, 'The Red Sox would bepretty cool. I've got an inside track. I know Adrian real well.' Iknow Adrian made a couple phone calls, but for whatever reason, thecontract they offered wasn't living up to what my guys thought wecould get, and like I said, other clubs did offer a little bitmore. I thought this was the best fit for me and my family."

Bell, who played with Gonzalez for four years in San Diego,signed a three-year deal worth $27 million with Miami.

"DeMarlo's a friend of mine. He's a friend of a lot of people's.He's very well-respected in the game of baseball, and he's wellthought of," Showalter said of the Red Sox bench coach, who isstill, for the time being, under contract. "Bobby and I have talkedsome since he got back.... To say that the name didn't come up, wediscussed it. Both of us want what's best for our clubs andDeMarlo. He's a professional and a good human being that any clubwould love to have."

A move to Baltimore might make sense for Hale, who worked asShowalter's first-base coach for three seasons in Texas. Former RedSox first-base coach Ron Johnson has already taken a job in theBaltimore organization.

tbritton@providencejournal.com

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